A mother and son are being accused of racially profiling and assaulting a black parking permit auditor over an encounter that took place in the parking lot of their Nashville apartment complex.
Johnny Martinez said he was checking for car permits in River House apartments in Nashville on Saturday, Nov. 27, a little after 8 p.m. when he was confronted by the "Karen" and her son in the parking garage.
"While performing a routine parking permit audit on the premises for my employer the duo confronted me at a nearby elevator and the first words that came out of the Karen's mouth were "you don't belong here, how did you get in here," Martinez wrote.
Martinez said that after he told them he was just doing his job, they demanded to see his identification, prompting him to pull out his camera and start recording.
'This is a Secure Building'
The video starts off with the mother and son questioning Martinez what he was doing in the parking garage.
"None of your business," Martinez replies.
The son then asks for an ID and threatens to call the cops on him, saying , "This is not your apartment."
"This is a secure building," the mother says, to which Martinez responds, "So then how do you think I got in here."
The son then attempts to snatch the phone out of Martinez's hands and a struggle ensues off-camera. Moments later, the son is seen getting up off the ground, yelling "Get the f*ck out of my building."
"What Are You Doing Here?"
The mother then dials 911 as they continue questioning Martinez over his presence in the building. "What are you doing here?," the son asks.
Martinez reiterates that it is none of their concern.
"It is our business. We live here!," the mother exclaims before calling the cops and reporting Martinez, claiming he was "being nasty" towards them when they asked him for identification.
"He's not telling us why he's here," she is heard saying over the phone.
"Tell them the person is black," Martinez says.
"I don't care what color you are," the woman replies, as the son attempts to add that there was a robbery reported nearby.
The mother and son walk away from Martinez, towards the staircase, as the son says he's going to get the apartment security.
"This gentleman is now telling me I'm calling the police because he's black," the woman tells the dispatcher.
"I'm pretty sure that's why you even came up to me," Martinez says. Watch the video below:
After the encounter, Martinez said he waited at the property for about 40 minutes for Metro PD. He said the "Karen" conveniently left out the part where her son assaulted him from the police. However, Martinez said he did file a police report and intends to press charges.
